Effective Yoga Poses to Alleviate Your Knee Pain

Knee pain is one of the most common cause of chronic pain and tends to affect people of all ages at some point in their lives. Learn these 5 effective yoga poses that help you find some relief from your knee pain.

Knee pain is considered to be the number two cause of chronic pain and more than one third Americans suffer from it. There are different causes of knee pain, right from an injury like torn cartilage to medical conditions like arthritis and gout. Most minor types of knee pain can be treated successfully with self-care, knee braces, and physical therapy. However, there are certain cases where you may require to undergo surgery.

Because the knee is a joint, it is affected by the surrounding muscles, ligaments, and cartilage. Jill Miller, a certified yoga instructor says, “The knee never acts in isolation because of the way the soft structure of the cartilage is designed”. The most common cause of knee pain is any kind of injury including sprains, ligament tears, direct blow to the knee, and fracture. Some of the other causes of knee pain include diseases like osteoarthritis and Osgood-Schlatter disease, as well as engaging in activities that put prolonged pressure on your knee. The severity and the location of the knee pain may vary greatly depending upon the cause of the condition.

Some of the symptoms of knee pain include stiffness, redness, swelling, weakness, popping noises, and an inability to fully stretch your knee. The treatment methods used to treat your knee pain depend upon the exact cause of the pain. Your doctor may prescribe you certain medications to relieve your pain and ask you to engage in physical therapy to increase your stability by strengthening the muscles around your knees. Only in certain rare cases do you have to think about the surgery options like partial knee replacement surgery, total knee replacement surgery, and arthroscopic surgery.

According to the American College of Rheumatology, non-pharmacological options are more effective at providing knee pain relief when compared to the surgical and pharmacological options. Yoga is indeed a safe alternative to several other exercises because it strengthens the muscles surrounding the knee and increases mobility. There are various yoga studios that recommend different exercises and yoga postures, however, care must be taken to ensure that these exercises and poses actually provide therapeutic benefits. There are some specific yoga poses that provide relief from your knee pain, but a few of these can be quite problematic if you do them incorrectly. Here are some tips that you should keep in mind when you start practicing yoga.

Warm-Up

It is very important to warm up your hip joints before beginning your yoga practice because quite often the pain in the knee is caused by the inflexibility of the hips.

Do Not Work Through the Pain

When it comes to working out, you do suffer through a lot of pain, especially if you haven’t worked out before. However, a golden rule when you are using yoga for knee pain relief is that there should be no pain. In other words, when you are practicing yoga, you should not feel any pain in your knees. Miller says, “If a pose doesn’t feel good, causes pain, or gives you a sharp sensation in the patella (kneecap), adjust it or don’t do it”.

Remember to Micro Bend Your Knees

If you are using any standing yoga poses, remember to bend your knees a little bit. This ensures that the muscles around the knees are supporting you and not the knee joint. Do not lock your knees, while bending them backwards must be avoided at all costs.

Use Props for Comfort

Take advantage of the props like yoga blankets and blocks to provide some comfort to your knees. You can also use any firm pillow or thick blanket, if you do not have a yoga blanket.

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